The Prosecutor Who Protects the Police, Not the People

This brief report summarizes statistical data about investigations carried out by the Office of the District Attorney into officer-involved shootings (OIS) in San Francisco, since the entry into office of George Gascón in 2011 to March 2018.

In September 2016, D.A. Gascón was granted a $1.5 million dollar budget to create a specialized unit to investigate police misconduct, but as our report shows, D.A. Gascón has never pressed charges against police officers who killed in any single OIS case, so far.

Nearly two years after the execution of Luis Góngora Pat by officer Michael Mellone and Sgt. Nate Steger, D.A. Gascón has yet to make a decision in his case. Luis’s family continues to demand that the D.A. pursue charges for his homicide.

A 100% police impunity rate for police shootings in San Francisco

Between 2011 and March 2018, there were 54 officer-involved shootings (OIS) carried out by San Francisco police officers. Of those 54 OIS, 24 were fatal and 30 were non-fatal.

Based on available public information from the Office of the District Attorney, we know that

61% of investigations into all OIS that took place from 2011-March 2018 have been closed. The other 39% remain open or the D.A.’s charging decision has not been made public.

Under D.A. Gascón, San Francisco has a 100% police impunity rate when it comes to officer-involved shootings, so far.

None of the OIS investigations closed so far by the D.A. for that period have resulted in charges pressed against any officer-involved.

In other words, D.A. Gascón found that SFPD officers committed no criminal act during any of the 54 times they shot their weapons at civilians, discharging hundreds of rounds.

From where we stand, it would appear that systematic impunity for police abuses is supported by the Office of the District Attorney of San Francisco.

In a further breakdown, of the 24 fatal OIS that took and place and were investigated by the D.A. Gascón from 2011-March 2018:

67% of investigations into fatal OIS, resulted in no charges, because the D.A. deemed that officers had acted lawfully or the D.A. believed there was insufficient evidence to contradict that assumption and therefore declined to press charges.

The other 33% of OIS cases remain open or the D.A. has not made his decision known.

Of the 30 non-fatal OIS investigated by the District Attorney Gascón:

57% of investigations into non-fatal OIS have been resolved, resulting in no charges because the D.A. deemed that officers had acted lawfully or the D.A. believed there was insufficient evidence to contradict that assumption and declined to press charges.

Regarding the other 43% non-fatal OIS cases, these either remain open or the D.A. has not made his decision known.

Tables and graphs:

Below we include a complete list of OIS, naming victims and the SFPD officers who shot them, based on publicly available information.

We have also included graphs summarizing the systematic impunity supported by the Office of the District Attorney of San Francisco.

The People’s Police Observatory is a project in honor of Luis Góngora Pat, killed by SFPD officers on April 7, 2016.

We demand justice for him, and the many others killed and abused by SFPD with utter impunity decade after decade after decade.